The Descent of Ginny Weasley
by FrankDank
Summary: When Ginny first began writing to Tom, she thought she'd found a friend. He was the only person who talked to her all year, he taught her things and coached her on her school work. Why was it though, that she couldn't help but feel he wasn't out to help her? This is a Slightly Dark!Ginny story No pairings yet. ON HIATUS
1. Flourish and Blotts

Ginny sighed as her mother placed another worn book in her cauldron. She desperately wanted new school supplies, but she knew they couldn't afford it. "I wonder if Percy's cauldron still works." Her mother mused and she searched for another book. Ginny _hoped_ she didn't get stuck with that old cauldron, considering her twin brothers had used it liberally for pranks. That thing was more potion than metal at this point and it was very volatile. "No, no. It's a little too old." The woman decided and Ginny sighed in relief.

They walked around Flourish and Blotts, her mother tittering over shelves until she'd pick out a few books. Her arms were getting quite tired, but she followed her mother around the store. "Oh look at this!" Her mother cried, brandishing a very battered copy of _A First Year's Potion Guide_. She quickly slapped a smile on and agreed.

"Good find, Mum." She said, wincing as her mother placed _another_ heavy book in her cauldron. Her mother turned towards her and smiled, before she looked behind her with a stern expression. Ginny turned around, and was eyelevel with a snake head.

She almost jumped back, but she realized it was a cane. She followed the gloved hand up to the man's face and looked into steely grey eyed. "Well, look what we have here, Draco. Commoners searching through the trash bins for school supplies!"

Ginny looked down at her used books and felt her face turn red. There was a boy nest to the man, and he sneered at her. They both had the same pale blond hair and cold grey eyes. "What do you expect, Father? They're _Weasleys_." He spat the word out as if it personally offended him, and curled up his lip.

The man reached out and plucked a book from her arms, and glanced at it with distaste. "You'd think they'd at least have the decency to buy clean books," He muttered. He dropped it back into her cauldron with a heavy _thump_ , and glanced at the boy. "Come along, Draco. It's not wise to stay around these people for long, you might catch the poverty." The boy laughed, and walked away with his father.

Ginny felt tears welling up in her eyes, and looked at her mother. The woman was bright red, and she stared at them as they left. She looked down and saw Ginny's upset state and gathered her in her arms for a hug. "Don't mind them, Gin," She murmured to the girl. "The only reason that man is here today is because he lied his way out of Azkaban." Her mother smiled at her, but Ginny hardly felt comforted.

She was unpacking things in her room, and dumped her new cauldron on the bed. She started placing them in one of her brother's old trunks, and almost didn't notice the black book. After she had put all her school books in, she stared at the extra book lying innocently on her bed. It was very nice, with a thick leather cover. It had letters engraved with what looked like gold, and the paper within was high quality. This was the nicest book she'd ever had.

She felt bad, but decided not to tell her mother that they'd bought an extra book. It was only a diary, it wouldn't have cost too much, she guessed. She set it on her desk, and started packing her robes into her trunk.

Those, thankfully, they bought new. She was the only girl in all of her parent's children, so she wasn't stuck with anyone's old robes. She folded them carefully and put them by the books and cauldron. She finished packing, and grabbed a quill.

She sat down at the desk, and opened the book. _'Dear Diary,'_ she wrote. _'My name's Ginny Weasley. I'm eleven, and I'm starting Hogwarts this year.'_ She put the quill down, and smiled.

The smile dropped from her face when her word started fading into the paper, and new ones appeared. Her breath caught, and looked around the room before turning back to the page. The writing was slanted, and spiky.

 _'Hello, Ginny. My name's Tom.'_

 ** _AN: Hey, I hope you guys liked the chapter, I'll probably post a new one soon. This is my first fanfic ever, please review and comment. Also if anyone's willing to be a beta reader I'd be very grateful!_**


	2. The Sorting Feast

She felt Professor McGonagall set the hat on her head, and it quickly fell over her eyes. "Hmmm. . . What do we have here?" A low voice grumbled in her ear. "Brave, yes. Loyal to a point. Very eager to learn. But what's this?" the hat paused. "Very ambitious! My, you're going to do great things when you're older!"

Ginny felt her cheeks redden, and smiled. "Thank you." She thought, and heard another low rumble in response.

"Now. Where to put you? Definitely not Hufflepuff, your loyalties know a boundary. Gryffindor, perhaps? No, no. You're brave, but not daring. That leaves Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Hmmm. . ." He paused, and Ginny's eyes widened.

"Please not Slytherin, my brother's will be so mad!" She thought frantically. "Anything but Slytherin!"

The hat paused for a moment. "Are you sure? You could go far in Slytherin, you could do many grate things. No? Very well, that must leave RAVENCLAW!" The hat bellowed out, and she felt the hat slip off her head. She shakily stood up, and walked towards the blue clad students. They were clapping loudly for her, and she smiled. She saw her brothers staring at her in confusion, and she shrugged sadly at them before sitting by a pale blonde girl.

She had long pale blonde hair, and very large blue eyes. She was reading a strange magazine, and didn't look up before saying, "You've got a few humbledingers by your hand, you know?"

Ginny looked down at her hand, "A few what?" she asked, seeing nothing.

The girl looked up from her magazine and smiled serenely, before going very serious. "Humbledingers." She said sternly. "Very nasty things, they stay around dark magic." She nodded, and returned to her papers, turning the thing sideways to read a passage.

"O-oh, thanks for telling me." Ginny said, pinching her brows in confusion. "I'm Ginny, what's your name?"

"Luna," she said, and turned towards her. Her eyes seemed to stare through her, but the girl smiled as if she saw something she approved of. "Your friend isn't really your friend." She nodded, and went back to reading. Ginny's thoughts flashed and she shook her head. Tom cared about her, they were each other's only friends. She was snatched out of her thoughts when someone coughed loudly.

Ginny looked around in confusion, and a boy smiled at her. "Terry Boot, second year. Don't mind her, she's been babbling ever since she sat down, I think she's mad." He offered his hand. "You're a Weasley, right? That must be strange to have all your brothers in one house and be in this one by yourself. Don't worry though, just earn points for the house and keep your head down and you'll be fine." He smiled again, but Ginny didn't smile back.

She nodded. "Will do," she said before she watched the rest of the feast. There were a few more additions to their house, but the rest were mainly Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

The headmaster said a few words, and food appeared on the table. She grabbed some chicken and a scoop of potatoes, and turned to Luna. "What do you think classes will be like?"

The girl looked surprised that Ginny still wanted to talk to her, and replied, "They'll be educational, I suppose." Ginny laughed, and they continued chatting.

The Prefect showed them all how to enter the tower, and led the new Ravenclaws to their dorms. Ginny saw her trunk was already in the room, and quickly chose a bed next to Luna. The other girls in their year had been rude to her, and she didn't fancy sleeping next to them for a year. Luna smiled and unpacked her things, and Ginny did the same. She pulled the diary out of her trunk, and sat down.

 _'I got into Ravenclaw. The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I refused. My housemates are kind of rude, except for one girl. Her name's Luna, and she's a bit odd.'_ The letters stood for a moment, before slowly disappearing. Tom's slanted script quickly appeared.

 _'Ravenclaw? Well done, much better than Gryffindor, although I do wish you had gone into my old house but that can't be helped now. If the Ravenclaws are anything like they used to be when I went to school, you'll find yourself in a house full of sneaky nerds. They were very competitive in my day, and would sabotage others to win.'_ Ginny rolled her eyes at that, and penned back quickly.

 _'The only thing my bunkmates seem able to do is glare. I think I'll be fine. I'm going to bed, good night Tom.'_

 _'Goodnight, Ginny.'_ He wrote, and she closed the diary. She hid it under her cauldron, and went to bed.

 **AN: Hey, I hope you guys like this chapter, I felt like I had to put Ginny in Ravenclaw. With how this story's going to end she'd be better off there than Slytherin. Please review!**


	3. First Day of Classes

Ginny was eating breakfast with Luna when her family's owl swooped down and landed in front of her. _'Oh no,'_ She thought. _'Mum's gonna be so mad.'_ She shakily untied the letter from Errol's leg and he started eating bacon off her plate. She unfolded it, and began to read.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _Percy owled us to tell us that you'd gotten into Ravenclaw. Congratulations! Although we'd hoped you'd be with your brothers, your father and I are proud of you! Write if you need anything._

 _-Love,_

 _Mum_

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her parents weren't mad at her for not getting into Gryffindor, they were proud of her. She smiled, and set the letter down. Errol was being stroked by Luna and was cooing softly. "I like your owl," Luna said, feeding him a sausage.

"Oh, Errol? Yeah, he's sweet, if a bit daft. Well, I suppose we ought to get to class then?" Luna nodded, and they stood up. They joined the rest of the Ravenclaw first years to transfiguration.

She'd already been prepare for this class. Tom had made her practice transfiguration often, so changing the match into a needle took little effort. She sat and waited for her partner to finish, when she heard the professor's Scottish accent behind her. "Very good, Ms. Weasley. Two points to Ravenclaw." And continued walking around the room.

She tried not to grimace at only being awarded two points, and sat back. "That was really cool," The girl beside her said. She was short, with blonde wavy hair and blue eyes. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Astoria."

Ginny shook her hand and said, "Nice to meet you, you're having trouble?" The girl nodded, and they chatted while she transfigured the matchstick into a silver piece of wood.

"I just can't get this." She muttered, and sighed. "How'd you get it so quickly?"

Ginny smiled and said, "Just lucky, I guess. But you might want to slow down your wand movement, I think that's what messing it up. Like this," She said, slowly showing her the movements.

Astoria smiled, and tried again. The match stick looked shinier, but still held the matchstick shape. "Oh close enough!" She laughed and smiled at her. "Thanks anyways, I'm sure I'll get it eventually." Ginny agreed, and they chatted while they waited for their next class.

Herbology was fun, but her partner was rather clumsy and nearly dropped their pot. Professor sprout warned the boy to be more careful, and continued teaching them how to repot the strange plants. She hadn't learned much of this subject from Tom, so she listened with rapt attention as the teacher spoke.

History of Magic had to be the most boring class she'd ever attend in her life. The ghost droned on and on about Rudolph the Rusty and his involvement in the goblin riots of 1378. She resisted the urge to take a nap like the rest of the students in her class, and instead pulled out a small black book.

 _'I'm in History of Magic, and I'd quite like to die.'_ She wrote. She watched as her writings drained into the page, and red his reply.

 _'I'm afraid that feeling never changes. If they've still got that old ghost teaching the class, you're better off doing independent studying. How is your first day going?"_

She rolled her eyes and wrote, _'Very boring. I had Transfiguration, Herbology, and now History of Magic. Later I have double Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am looking forward to that class, the teacher is famous. Mum bought every one of his books, he's quite a big deal.'_ She felt the book scoff, and she smiled. It did help that the teacher was good looking, too.

She changed her mind, this had to be the worst class she'd ever attend. Professor Lockhart had spent the first hour of class administering a test about himself. Now that they had finished it, he was having them ask questions which were about him of course. He was currently telling them about his latest adventure, and Ginny was already tired of hearing him speak.

"And after I heroically slayed the Gorgon of Genomally, I was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Minister of Magic himself!" He exclaimed, brandishing a large medal. "You see, it's not about using a large repertoire of spells, but simply using ones you're wonderful at and staying prepared!"

Ginny couldn't help but notice he pronounced repertoire incorrectly and neither, it seemed, could her classmates. The Slytherin first years laughed at that while the Ravenlcaws hid grins, and Lockhart puffed out his chest. "I know, you all must think that it's funny I defeated a dragon with simply a few well aimed diffindos, but it's true. As long as you're prepared, you've got a fighting chance!" He cried dramatically. Ginny held back a snort of laughter, and shared a side eyed glance with a slytherin girl sitting beside her. The dark haired girl rolled her eyes and smirked, chuckling a little.

 _'I was so wrong about Professor Lockhart,'_ She wrote later. _'He's more concerned about his trophies than teaching. Oh well."_

 **AN: Wow, three chapters in only 2 hours. It does help that they're rather short. Once the plot picks up they'll be longer. Please review, I'd love to hear what you guys think about it! I still need a beta reader, if anyone would be willing.**


	4. The Chamber

_'I need you to give the Diary away,'_ Tom wrote one day. _'I had plans.'_

Ginny looked down at the book in shock. _'What? Why, I thought we were friends!'_ She looked at the book, but the words didn't disappear. Her quill hesitated for a moment over the paper, and then wrote, _'What do you need to do?'_

She could practically feel the diary's mood shift, and he replied, _'I can show you.'_ And as she watched, a small box appeared on the page. She leaned closer and suddenly fell forward. She looked around wildly, and saw she was in a dark common room. It was empty, until a tall boy walked down one of the staircases.

He was very cute, she decided. His hair fell in carefully styled waves, and his bright blue eyes shown even in the darkness of the room. "Tom?" she asked, while he walked closer to her. His eyes seemed to look through her, and she was forced to jump out of the way when he got to close. She followed him out of the common room and into the hallway.

"Where are we going?" She asked. Again, no answer. The boy walked with a quick stride, and they were soon at a girl's bathroom. He didn't hesitate before entering, and slowly walking to the sinks. He bent near one of them, and Ginny saw a small snake engraved in the faucet. "Tom?"

He hissed, and she felt chills run down her spine. Over all the things he'd shared with her, he'd never once mentioned being a parsel mouth. Suddenly he stepped back, and a dark tunnel slid into view. He hissed again, and stairs appeared. Ginny looked at him in shock, surely he wasn't planning to go down there?

The tall boy strode down the stairs, and she was forced to follow. They had been walking for what seemed like an hour, when they reached the bottom stair. The floor was dry, and covered in animal bones. Ginny's eyes widened, and watched him pull out his want. It was long, with pale wood and what looked like a bone for the handle. He muttered a spell, and his wand pointed to one of the many dark tunnels in front of them.

She was getting very tired of walking, Ginny soon decided when she found out how long this tunnel was. But, she followed Tom, observing him quietly. They reached a large circular thing that she assumed was a door. He hissed at it again, and the large interlocking slithered, and the door opened. She followed him into a large room, and froze at the sight before her.

There was a very large statue of a haughty looking man, and torches everywhere. For once, Tom seemed to pause, and went to stand in front of the gigantic statue. He hissed again, and she heard a chilling noise. Suddenly the room was filled with scraping noises as the statue's mouth dropped open. Tom's eyes fluttered out, and she watched as a large head slowly descended from the entrance. It was a snake. A very large, terrifying snake.

Ginny watched as it hit the floor with a loud thud, and slowly unraveled its long body. It hissed, loud and grating against her ears, and she winced. Tom began hissing back, and she watched as a sort of film went over the beast's eyes. They were still open, just covered. Tom slowly opened his eyes, and she saw relief in them, before he reached out and stroked the monster's head.

All of a sudden, everything froze, and things began to turn grey. Tom's figure swiveled towards her, and he looked at her for the first time that night. "Do you see, Ginny? I need to get back down here, I haven't checked on her on a very long time. Imagine how lonely she is," he murmured. Ginny found herself slowly nodding, and he smiled. "So you understand why I need your help?"

"Y-yeah," She said. She didn't _want_ to give the diary away. She was Tom's friend, and if she gave it away, he'd move on. She thought for a moment, and smiled." But you don't need to give the diary away! I can help you, I promise, Tom."

She missed the smile that flashed across his face, and he said, "Really, you'd be willing to help me? I'd be forever grateful." He looked at her, and she believed him.

"So, how can I help you?" She asked quietly. "I mean, I'm not a parsel toungue, so I won't be able to check on it-her." She finished awkwardly.

Tom smiled at that, "Well, you could allow me to speak for you," he murmured. "You'd be in control, I'd just be speaking."

He smiled at her again, and Ginny smiled back. "Well, okay. I mean we're friends now, aren't we?" She looked at him, and continued. "And friends help each other out."

"That's right," he murmured. "Friends help each other. Well, before you help me I'm going to need you to run a few. . . errands, for me. You'd do that, won't you? Since we're _friends_?" He looked at her, and she beamed up at him.

"Of course, Tom!"

 **AN: Opinions? I really hope you guys like this chapter, after the next one they'll start getting longer.**


	5. Roosters and Cats

She didn't want to hurt the birds. At the Burrow, her mum kept some chickens, and she'd never hurt one of them. She stood outside Hagrid's coop, one hand held a knife, the other hand held the diary.

 _'I don't think I can do this.'_ She wrote, hand's shaking. _'They're just chickens, they didn't do anything bad!'_

 _'They'll hurt her, Ginny. I need to protect her, please Ginny.'_ She stared at his words. She wanted to help him, she really did, but she couldn't kill the poor roosters. _'Ginny?'_

 _'I can't, Tom! They're little birds, I can't just kill them!'_ She was crying now, and Tom waited for a minute before replying.

 _'Well, there is another option. . . '_ His writing stopped for a moment at a single tear drop hit the page. _'I can do it for you, so you don't have to.'_

Ginny stared at the diary, and nodded. _'Could you do that, then?'_ Before he could reply, she felt her eyes droop closed.

She awoke later in her dorm room covered in feathers. She grabbed the diary from where it lay on her bed. How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was. . . Roosters? No, that wasn't right. She had gone to the library and studied. She picked up her quill and wrote, _'Tom?'_

 _'Yes, Ginny?'_ He wrote back. _'Learn anything new at the library?'_

 _'Yeah, I think.'_ She pulled a feather off her robe. _'I'm covered in feathers.'_ She barely registered that she was writing in the diary, it had become second nature to her now.

 _'That's strange.'_ He mused, writing slowly. Ginny had to agree, she couldn't remember how long she'd been in the library. Or why she'd left her book bag in the dorm room. Or why she was covered in feathers and there was something suspiciously red under her finger nails. _'How was your day?'_

 _'It was fine. I think I'm gonna go to bed now, Tom. Goodnight.'_ She closed the diary before he could reply, and fell asleep quickly.

When she opened her eyes, she found a large pair of grey eyes staring back. She jumped back, and Luna smiled. 'You've got a feather in your hair, is it to ward off jacklayers? That doesn't work, you know. They've built up an immunity to feathers."

"Er-yeah." Ginny said, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it Luna?" She was so tired, it felt as if she'd barely slept an hour.

"It's twelve forty-three." Luna said "You've been asleep all day."

"What?" Ginny gimped up. "Oh no, I've missed class, I'm going to be in so much trouble!" She ran to the bathroom and began brushing her hair. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"You do remember it's Saturday, don't you Ginny?" Luna said, holding up a feather.

"Really?" she stared at the blonde girl, and dropped the brush. "I could've sworn it was Thursday. . ." she mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Luna asked, looking at her again.

"N-nothing." She stammered, looking at one of the many t=feathers that now littered the bathroom floor. "Want to go to lunch?"

"I'd like that."

When the cat was found she couldn't help but feel her stomach drop. Something was _wrong._ It felt familiar, but she knew that was impossible. Yes she'd seem Mrs. Norris patrolling the halls, but she'd never even pet her before. The cat's eyes stared lifelessly at the floor and she felt her hands shake.

People immediately started to blame Harry Potter, and she felt bad for him _'I know he didn't do it Tom. Harry's brave, and kind. He wouldn't kill a cat!'_

 _'Petrified, not killed.'_ Tom wrote.

 _'What? How'd you know it was petrified?'_ She asked. She couldn't recall telling him the actual situation.

 _'You told me earlier. Anyways, continue on about this Potter fellow. Who is he?'_

 _'Oh he's great Tom. He defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby! He's the only wizard known to survive the killing curse. And he's got lovely green eyes, and dark messy hair. He just wouldn't do this!'_

 _'It sounds as if you're quite enamored with him. Who's You-Know-Who?'_ Ginny looked at the words and realized. He'd probably never even heard of the dark lord, how could she expect him to know who You-Know-Who was?

 _'We're not supposed to say his name but, it was Voldemort. He was very powerful, but Harry was stronger. When You-Know-Who sent the killing curse at him, it hit him in the forehead and killed the Dark Lord instead. Harry lives with mean muggles, my brothers had to rescue him this year. They'd locked him in a room and put bars on the window!'_ She paused, and flexed her fingers. _'He's an orphan, his parents died the night You-Know-Who tried to kill him. Harry's a good wizard, and I just know he wouldn't do this.'_

The diary was quite, and Ginny almost closed it before Tom began to write back. _'He defeated a Dark Lord as a baby? That takes. . . considerable power. Are you sure he didn't petrify the cat? It sounds like he could've. . .'_ Ginny shut the diary with a huff.

Harry would not do this, Ginny knew it. He was too kind to hurt an innocent animal. Animals. Her thoughts drifted back to that afternoon she'd woken up covered in feathers. What happened? She'd never found out where the feathers had come from. She shook her head as she got ready for bed. It was probably a prank Fred and George had pulled on her.

Her thoughts didn't even wander to the chamber as she fell asleep. Her eyes were already closed when the black diary flipped open of it's own accord.

 **AN: To the reviewer who commented about the title, I had realized my mistake after I'd already published. I am very new to ff.n and have no clue on how to fix it. This is going to be the last short chapter, after this they'll probably be at least double the length they are now. Please review.**


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